![]() This earthwork appears to have originally comprised an Iron Age 'Promontory' Fort consisting of a double bank and ditch isolating the land in a south bend of the River Thet. side of the earthwork contained a number of sub-oval foundations of chalk rubble, unconfirmed in date but probably connected in some way with the medieval castle.(3-4) Beaker pottery and an Early Bronze Age flint arrowhead were found.Īn outer bailey added to the N. Cuttings in the inner bailey revealed pottery and other objects ranging from the late 11th to the mid-13th centuries. part of an Iron Age fort, with much of the I.A. (2)Įxcavations for the Norfolk Research Committee showed that in the late 11th century a motte with its own ditch was constructed in the W. ![]() According to a pipe-roll for 19 Henry II, 1172-3, the castle had then recently been demolished. Baillie Reynolds supposes it was made by Roger Bigod, to whom William the Conqueror assigned this part of the country. in circumference, and one of the largest in England. (1)Įvidently a motte and bailey castle with a motte 80 ft. The surviving inner bank on the north side of the bailey stands to a height of about 6 metres above the prevailing ground surface and the inner ditch remains open to a depth of 10 metres from the top of the bank. This eastern part of the bank is no longer visible, having been levelled in 1772. A sketch plan of the earthworks drawn in the first half of the 18th century shows the inner bank extending east of Castle Lane and turning southwards to enclose a sub-rectangular bailey with estimated dimensions of about 105 metres WNW-ESE by up to 90 metres. Immediately to the east of the motte and its encircling ditch is an area of level, open ground bounded on the north side by a double bank and ditch which are contiguous with the earthworks to the north of the motte. ![]() The base of the motte is encircled by a ditch about 18-20 metres wide which remains open to a depth of between 5 metres and 6 metres, and enclosing this on the north side is a very large double bank and ditch. The platform would have supported a timber tower, evidence for which will survive below the ground surface, and it is likely that the bank represents the footing of a wall or timber palisade. The motte is a large, circular mound of chalk, approximately 25 metres in height and 90 metres in diameter surrounded by a bank of chalk rubble 2 metres in height. It was sited in a position to control important crossings of the rivers Thet and Ouse, as well as to dominate the town of Thetford which, at the time of the Domesday survey in the late 11th century, was among the six largest and most populous towns in the country. The castle is believed to have been constructed shortly after the Norman Conquest, either by Ralph Guader, Earl of East Anglia until his rebellion in 1076, or Roger Bigod, his successor as Earl. Summary : A medieval motte and bailey castle constructed within an Iron Age enclosure (TL 88 SE 123). Historic England Research Records Castle Hill
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